Unity Health Gets Grant To Help Stroke Patients

Unity Health System is getting a grant to help stroke patients. One of the main goals of the program is to keep stroke patients from being re-admitted to the hospital for similar problems.

Unity is getting a three-year grant totaling up to $558,000 from the Greater Rochester Health Foundation. Unity already has been designated as a Stroke Center by the state, and has programs to treat and rehabilitate stroke patients. But Doctor Mary Dumbovy who is vice president of Unity Neurosciences, says too many stroke patients are coming back to area hospitals for a recurrence.

“We found that when patients left the hospital after a stroke they didn’t really understand what they needed to do to reduce their risk, and so they may not have been taking their medications at all, or appropriately .“

Dombovy says the grant is also seeking to find better ways to make sure that people with stroke symptoms get to the hospital in time. Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, and a leading cause of serious, long term adult disability.